


Sahara

by CreepyFujoshiQueen



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Lily Evans Potter Lives, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2018-11-01 11:42:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 37
Words: 19,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10921116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CreepyFujoshiQueen/pseuds/CreepyFujoshiQueen
Summary: On Halloween night, Voldemort intended to kill the Prophecy child and all in his way.On Halloween night, Lily Potter nee Evans and her one-year-old boy lived. Her husband dead.Lily can't live under Dumbledore anymore and leaves for a life of solitude with her child and best friend, Severus Snape.





	1. New Beginning's

Voldemort walked up the pathway to the door of Godric's Hallow, blowing the door off it's hinges. James Potter shouted at his wife to take their child and run, but she runs upstairs instead. Voldemort scowls, killing James Potter who was in his way.

Then everything goes wrong, Lily blocks his path even though he gives her several chances to live. Voldemort doesn't think when he casts a spell, he needs the woman out of his way. Lily drops to the ground and Voldemort can turn to his target. Luminous green eyes gaze eerily at him, the child doesn't cry which scares Voldemort more than he'd ever say.

Nevertheless the killing curse doesn't kill the infant instead it rebounds, killing it's caster.

The child stares at where Voldemort was, he didn't cry or scream or react. Harry James Potter watched as an black haired man burst in, he watched this new figure start to cry and hold his mother close.

He sees the man suddenly look at him, green meeting black, both impassive except one has tear tracks on his face.

Then Lily stirs, she opens her eyes and takes in her surroundings. She hugs the man back when he almost crushes her.

Lily holds her best friend, Severus Snape, for the first time in years. Lily starts to cry when she thinks of how she never forgave him for saying one word. One stupid word.

They brake apart, incredibly emotional, to see her son watching them an small smile playing on his lips.

Lily grins happily, but falters when she found out James was dead. Lily smiles again, at least she has Harry. At least, she has her son.

"We need to go." Lily realises with clarity, almost dyeing clears the mind wonderfully.

"Yes, go. I'll get Harry." Severus stands and picks up the child who grips him for dear life. Lily smiles as Severus cringes slightly, he was never good with children.

Destination in mind, Lily takes Severus' hand apparating them to deserted location.


	2. Desert

 

Severus smiled as Harry playing in the sand his arm around Lily, Harry is exceptionally smart for a four-year-old.

The rare times, Harry isn't wanting to know something new he plays with the sand. Helps the animals and sleeps.

In the sand, Harry makes a castle. He smiles and giggles, happily forgetting the present for the moment. He turns to grin at Severus who smiles back. Harry can remember a time when getting Severus to smile was hard, but it easier now.

Harry never wants this end, neither does Lily. She knows they can't hide forever, but she lives in the present. Ignores the world for her little family.

When Harry asks about Demiguises, Lily tells him all about the creature. Happy to forget the future, the past and all that comes with it. Severus says nothing, listens to her voice before he goes to make a potion.

Living in an desert is hard, however a small village nearby relies on their magic. Lily likes that these muggles don't care that their different, she likes how  most in the village have magical descendants. Severus likes how they might not have magic but are in tune with the magic around them.

It's refreshing after England, after the prejudice and pain. Lily hasn't forgotten James, she still mourns him but Lily knows she can't think about him to much. He always wanted her to be happy, felt bad about bullying Severus even encouraged her to talk to him, but Lily was a coward. She thought he hated her, and couldn't bear rejection. Severus was forgiven long ago, Lily just never told him.

Their years in the Sahara will wane, their time to return to Britain soon. Harry is intelligent, caring and kind. He can be cold too. Lily likes this, she knows that if Harry is too compassionate he could be crushed by Dumbledore.

A stupid man who had them abandon an incredibly secure Manor for some poorly defenced shack in some village. James loved Dumbledore, took his word to heart and that's what annoys her. James would be alive if they had left Britain, her son would have his father. Then Lily's guilty, Severus is like a father to Harry.

 

The years flow like water through Lily's hands, she's done all she could as has Severus. Harry is eleven now, he will go to Hogwarts. They have everything, Lily got it.

A man with black hair survey's the desert, saddened that he might not be here again. The child in his arms squirm desperate to go, Severus startles at how easily touch comes with Harry. The child demands your attention, he looks so fragile like a precious but deadly flower.  Harry is deadly beyond his years.

Severus can't wait for everyone to realise.


	3. Trains

The child stands on the platform, unused to the cold of his new concentre world. His mother stands beside him, red hair swirling slightly in the wind. A man with black hair and eyes surveying his surroundings, he hated the stares they got.

"Do I have to?" Harry asked, he didn't whine. Not ever.

"Unfortunately yes." Severus glared at some curious red head girl who ran to her mother crying.

Harry smiled as her cries filled the air, he looked around. He had never seen anything other than sand his whole life unless he read a book.

"We'll be there at Hogwarts, you just need to find us." Lily said smiling.

"Lily Potter?" The mother of the redhead came up to them.

"I go by Lily Evans now." Lily replied.

"It's just so wonderful to meet you and..." The woman rambled on for several minutes. "My name is Molly Weasley."

Molly turned to look at Severus a look of disdain flickering over her face.

"Severus." Molly dismissed him.

"Severus? Is it time to get on the train now?" Harry asked, he noticed the redhead girl and a boy with more violently ginger coloured hair whispering and staring at him.

"What's your name dear?" Molly asked as if she where his mother.

"None of your business." Harry glared at her.

Molly started and walked away, contemptuously.

"Get on when you like Hadrian." Severus smiled at Harry.

Harry grinned and after a long goodbye, got on the train. He found an empty compartment right at the back, putting up complicated glamor and compulsion charms to hide it.

 


	4. Sorting

Albus Dumbledore sat patiently as the students filed in talking loudly, he was composed and appeared to be a serene grandfatherly figure when in fact he was breaking down inside waiting for the sorting to begin. He had accepted Severus and Lily into teaching positions as it was the only way they would agree to send Harry to Hogwarts. He wanted desperately for Harry to be a Gryffindor but would have been okay with any house but Slytherin.

He looked unhappily down the table at Severus, the new potions master, and Lily who now taught Astronomy. They where talking and _laughing_ , Slytherin stared at them whilst the other houses tried not to faint.

Dumbledore his frown, everything had to go to plan. It just had to.

 

Harry walked over to the giant that stood blocking the path, he watched the other first years cautiously. He began to assess them based on how they acted.

A bushy haired girl was explaining something to a ginger haired boy like he was an imbecile, Harry made a mental note to avoid her as she quite obviously assumed everyone was more ignorant her. The ginger haired boy did seem like an imbecile though, Harry thought he looked brain dead. A boy with silvery white hair caught his attention.

The boy was doing the exact same thing as him, ignoring the two people on either side of him who where arguing. Harry smirked as the boy frowned when he was brought into his friends argument.

The oaf walked off, snapping Harry back into reality. They approached some boats and was told to get in, Harry ended up with the boy and his two friends. He noticed that the boys eyes looked like cold hard silver. Harry turned around blushing at how much attention he was paying to one person, not knowing that the boy had been watching Harry in his peripheral vision for a while.

Harry's thoughts drifted so he didn't notice the stern looking woman or their walking into the Great Hall, he barely cared as the other First years gazed in awe at the Hall. The Slytherins and Ravenclaws where quick to notice him as he wasn't acting like the others, the other houses didn't care. The news of Harry Potter coming to Hogwarts distracting them from even looking for him.

Severus and Lily stopped talking to catch Harry's attention and silently send him encouragement.

The stern looking woman rattled off names which was how Harry came back to the present, luckily just as his name was called.

He walked forwards to sit on an stool and waited as a hat was placed on his head, his vision was blocked because it was to big.

 _Interesting, very interesting. You're nothing like the He expected._ A voice ran through his head.

 _Who's He?_ Harry glared at the inside of the hat, hating that something had so easily gotten into his mind.

_Doesn't matter._

They argued for several minutes much to the ire of Dumbledore and the crowd of teenagers.

"Slytherin!" The hat yelled to the silent crowd after ignoring Harry's protests.


	5. Slytherin

"First Year Slytherin's  follow me!"

Harry glanced up towards a girl standing at the end of the table, he noted the Prefect badge that flashed in the light. He followed after the other First Years, Harry had the perfect pureblood mask that even some of the older years where jealous of. They walked briskly but still gracefully downwards towards the dungeons.

At a stretch of cold stone wall they finally stopped.

"The password is _pureblood_. Remember it." Another prefect said as the stone wall slid aside, the first years where ushered inside quickly along with the other years.

At first the other years went to their respective dorms or sat in small groups. The prefects gathered them in the centre of the room, the pureblood masks finally gone because there were only Slytherin's around.

"Words of warning our potions master, Severus Snape, used to be head of Slytherin and doesn't tolerate anyone who doesn't have basic knowledge. He might test you during lessons so brush up on your knowledge. The others teachers aren't as biased to another house like Dumbledore or the transfiguration teacher." The girls lipped curled angrily at the thought of that teacher. "Next, the other houses will be out to get you, don't let them have an advantage over you. There are notice boards for each year, yours is there."

She pointed across the common room, "Dorms are up those stairs, names are on the doors. Get some rest."

Harry walked up the stairs before the others and had found his dorm faster than them, he noticed it was three to a room but didn't care that much who a _Draco Malfoy_ was or a _Blaise Zabini_. Instead he looked around with a vague interest. There was a sitting room connected to three separate bedrooms each with an private bathroom. He decided he liked his dorms even if he had to share with two others.

Then his roommates walked in and he suddenly cared very much about who was staying with him as he looked into metallic silver eyes.

 

Dumbledore paced fuming, all his carefully laid plans ruined. He had tried for years to see Harry so he could lay subtle little compulsions to make Harry be the perfect light. He'd thought given the child had Gryffindor parents would make him one too, forgetting that Lilly was supposed to be Ravenclaw that he'd seen to it she wasn't. Or that Harry had grown up around Severus who was a Slytherin.

Dumbledore forgot the smaller, insignificant parts of his plan that ultimately made it perfect. Except he hadn't counted on outside influences to ruin them, he hadn't made contingency plans just in case. Slowly, without noticing it, the world Dumbledore had created was crumbling around him.  


	6. Parental Guidance

"Hey, how's it going?" Lily asked as she and Severus talked with Harry in the common room.

The Slytherins had tried not react when they'd walked in but it was hard not to, Severus had been _smiling_ plus him and Lily looked good as a couple. Really good but no-one would ever mention that. _Ever._

"Good." Harry had cast a wandless silencing charm to stop any curious snake from overhearing. Even though he'd been told to watch out for the other houses but he was overly cautious.

"That's wonderful." Severus sounded sarcastic but Harry knew he meant it. Lily smiled as Harry's gaze drifted to look at white blonde hair.

"Met anyone yet?" She smirked when Harry jumped.

"Not really, I know a couple peoples names but I probably won't ever talk to them." Harry answered honestly, he was very intrigued by Draco Malfoy (he silently rejoiced at having a name for a face) but didn't like being around other humans apart from his mother and Severus.

"Why ever not? You might find people more interesting than they appear." Lily nudged Severus to back her up.

"I won't." Harry protested, not showing any emotions.

"Get friends, she'll stop badgering you. Like a hufflepuff." He muttered the last part however Lily heard and smacked him. He glared at few Slytherins who dared snigger even though they hadn't heard what he'd said.

"Fine." Harry growled.

He so did not want to have to befriend anyone but was obviously being forced to actually meet someone or listen to his mother's complaining. Harry's plan was to see if anyone tried to talk to him if not he'd give up. It wasn't the best of plans however Harry wasn't used to being surrounded by people.

 

Draco Malfoy had casually stolen glances at the green-eyed boy in his year and couldn't help comparing the colour to an emerald, it didn't help that the child's black hair made his eyes pop and pale skin even more pale if possible. He'd wondered about the identity of the mystery boy and was shocked to discover it was _Harry Potter_. His godfather, Severus, had visited over the years but never talked about Harry even though the Malfoys knew about Severus raising Harry with Lily Potter.

The best part of his evening was when he found out that he had to share with the Potter heir. Of course Blaise would be there to but Draco honestly didn't care if him and Harry had to share with a Hungarian Horntail.

Draco secretly plotted on how he could possibly introduce himself to Harry and actually talk to him instead of watching the boy talk to his mother and Severus in his peripheral vision. 


	7. Surprise Twist

Harry was severely confused as he looked around the hall, Severus had gone on about Slytherin for ages and how the house colours where bright, vibrant.

Except they weren't. The silver looked washed out, dull compared to the radiance of the green. Harry made a note to ask his mother later.

"So Harry..." Draco very easily included Harry in the conversation even though they technically hadn't been introduced.

Lily watched happily and the fourth year where delighted to see Severus looking more relaxed as they had him for first period.

 

Little did Harry know, Draco had stared annoyed and sad at how dull the green was. He was used it by now.

 

"Mom?" Harry asked, they where sitting in Severus's study with Severus sitting behind his desk resting on it.

"What's up?" Lily flicked her hair over her shoulder.

"The Slytherins banners looks weird."

"What do you mean?" Severus sat up with a furrowed brow.

"The silver looks faded so does every silver object actually." Harry mumbled.

"Harry, you know soulmates?" Lily asked.

"Yes everyone had another half." 

"Well, until you touch your soulmate everything the same colour as their eyes looks faded." Lily said.

"I have to touch my soulmate to find out if they even are my soulmate?!" 

Severus frowned thinking of everyone he knew who had silver eyes but only thought of Lucius who had already found his soulmate.

"Yes Harry, don't worry you don't have to touch everyone with silver eyes." Severus replied, Harry bit his lip but was sent to bed by Lily.

He froze by the door to his bedroom. Draco had silver eyes.

Harry spun to gaze intently at Draco but dismissed it, he doubted he was Draco's soulmate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone notice how I changed the tags. It's midnight and I'm eating cereal when inspiration hits. 1)soulmate au 2) harry/draco.  
> No one hate me for this.


	8. How I hate the Colour Green

Draco's POV;

 

Draco hated the colour green, not because of how he saw it but because he was constantly being reminded how beautiful others thought it was.

_This green is so vibrant don't you think? I adore this plant because it's light green. Green is so pretty, right Draco?_

He never said any different when people asked if he liked this green or that green because he didn't want anyone to know that he didn't see it properly. He never answered if they asked what colour he couldn't see correctly. Draco heard stories of how soulmates loved not seeing a colour right because when they did it would be their soulmates eyes they saw first. Some Hogwarts girls randomly touched people to find their soulmate. Especially Muggleborns.

They came from a world without magic so they yearned for their significant other. Draco knew better, he knew that his soulmate could be a dragon but hoped they where human. Anything with magic could be your soulmate even muggles had magic, they just couldn't use it. They didn't have enough that could be spared on spells like witchs and wizards.

He made sure to include Harry in every conversations, he doubted Harry was his soulmate but couldn't take any chances. Draco, however, didn't notice that he saw Harry's eyes exactly right. Bright vibrant emerald green that sparkled when he laughed. Well, he noticed the last part but figured Harry's eyes where washed down, duller than it really was.

Potions was a fun lesson as Severus placed Draco next to Harry, however they never touched. Draco thought of 'accidently' touching Harry but thought against it. Harry took care not to touch others which Draco respected nevertheless he wondered why that was.

 

Draco caught Dumbledore staring weirdly at Harry, he dismissed it as everyone stared at Harry, the boy-who-lived. First year passed quickly with some dumb Gryffindors almost killing themselves on the third floor.

Second year nothing happened, when Draco had seen the black book in the Weasley girl's cauldron he stole it back. He didn't question his impulsiveness and thought Harry's subtle compassion was rubbing off on him.

He did however take the time to properly assess Harry. Draco saw how compassionate Harry could be as well as cold, he hid behind a mask like most Slytherins but was kind. He noticed when Harry went out of his way to help the younger Slytherins. He saw nearly everything Harry did and saw how Harry avoided touch, Draco wondered what Harry's colour was and wished that Harry could have a nice soulmate, someone similar to him.

He saw how close Harry was with Lily and Severus, even though Severus would deny it.

Draco didn't notice his growing with Harry or the sly glances Harry gave him.

He spent all of summer waiting for Third Year, just to see Harry. Not knowing Harry felt exactly the same way.


	9. Questions

"Mom, why do we see a bad version of the color? Wouldn't it be better to just not see the color at all?" Harry asked after a lesson.

"I don't know." Lily mused "its just how it is, anyway what if you died before finding your soulmate? At least you saw all colors even if one was horrendous to look at."

"Have you found your soulmate?" Harry asked.

"Yes, but I won't tell you before you ask. Go play with that blonde boy." Lily smiled.

"His name's Draco." Harry frowned and left, ignoring his mother and Severus who where giggling but would deny it later.


	10. Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this written for about two days then I heard about Chester Bennington's death and couldn't stop crying. So I'm updating now while I have the chance.

First year passed like a breeze with only the odd incident of some first year Gryffindors doing something stupid. Harry only smiled when Slytherin won the house cup. Again.

Second went faster with nothing happening. He noticed how Draco's friends, which he should've thought of as his cause that's what they wanted, would corner the blonde and talk rapidly to him which only made Draco blush.

Harry thought nothing of it, but was often saw odd looks from basically everyone Slytherin.

Third year was okay but his mother somehow managed to free his godfather after finding out he'd gone to wizard jail. Harry liked Sirius but Severus didn't and Harry couldn't help but wonder what happened between them.

Luckily his mother smacked sense into them, literally.

Fourth year hit harder for them all. Somehow over the course of the year Harry was slip a portkey and whisked over to a graveyard.  _A graveyard of all places._

Harry barely escaped with his life and ended up with his hysterical mother holding him for hours. Severus looked pale and shaky whilst Harry recounted his story.

"Then I touched it and I was back here." Harry finished.

Lily sat next to him, holding him in a death grip, Dumbledore was at the foot of the hospital bed Harry had been forced onto. Severus stood by Lily's side.

"Voldemort is back now, this is a disaster." Dumbledore mused. Severus paled even more.

"Sev, what's wrong?" Lily held his hand watching worriedly. Severus looked better but not significantly.

"Looks like I should go." Dumbledore stood and left.

Harry barely glanced in the older mans direction instead focusing on Severus.

"Sev, Severus." Lily said beginning to get annoyed with the lack of response.

"I was a death eater in the first war. I'm the reason the Dark Lord attacks you but I'm now a spy for the light." Severus muttered.

Lily stood, her eyes glittered with tears,"why didn't you tell me?"

"Because the war was over. I thought it didn't matter." Severus replied he watched Lily uncertainly as anger bloomed in the redeads eyes.

"How dare you?! I'll decided what matters." She slapped him as she shouted and stormed out, Harry saw the tears as she left.

Severus slumped onto the floor but looked up when he felt a small hand on his shoulder.

"Tell me everything, from the beginning. Including why you joined." Harry said, his green eyes where curious. So different from the anger that had clouded Lily's.

"I was abused as an child, my father used to hurt me. Tell me I was worthless. That I'd never find my soulmate or they'd rejected me. I used to run away during the day, practise magic so one day I could get away. Mother died when I was young, so she was never an option. Then I met Lily, she was always so beautiful and I knew she was a muggleborn. I showed her magic and told her to ignore her sister who called her a freak and things like that."

Severus paused for breath.

"We went to Hogwarts and she was so excited, then I got placed in Slytherin her in Gryffindor. It was hard, our houses shunned us, but we stayed friends. Your father, James Potter used to bully me with his friend Sirius Black. Remus Lupin, their other friend, did nothing to stop them. James had a...crush on Lily, tried to win her over but she hated him because of how he treated me. At least that's what's she told me. Then one year I snapped, my father had been worse that summer and so had James. I called your mother a mudblood."

Harry gasped as Severus looked away.

"I spent weeks outside Gryffindor common room, trying to apologise. But she never accepted it. I realised my father was right and then He promised a place where I could belong. That's all I've ever wanted. To belong."

Severus began to cry and felt Harry hug him.

"I overheard a prophecy when Dumbledore interviewed the divination teacher. I knew it was about either you or longbottom, I wanted to not tell the dark lord. Protect you and Lily but Lucius had been there as well. He never heard a word but had been on the mission and I knew that I had to protect the pair of you anyway possible. I went to Dumbledore asked him to protect you and your mother. In truth I've only heard half the prophecy but I could still tell it meant that either you or longbottom was going to be targeted."

"How, how couldn't it have been anyone else?"

"Born as the seventh month dies, you and longbottom share a birthday. 31st of July. Dumbledore promised to protect you but I still begged the Dark Lord to spare Lily after I tried to beg him to spare both of you. I never once thought of James but then again I never did."

"Why try and protect me?" 

"I knew as soon as I heard the prophecy Lily might die, I knew that idiotic old man would place you with her sister. He told me as much, I couldn't let you go there. Petunia hates all things magical. I wanted to spare you the same childhood as mine. Obviously, it didn't work out. James was killed but you and Lily where alive. When she awoke, when I got my best friend back I wanted to tell her everything. But I knew she'd react like this. So I put it off, I treasured the years I've had with both of you."

Severus wiped his eyes and cheeks but still feared looking at Harry.

"One question."

"Yes?" Severus was way to nervous and had started to shake.

"Are you moms soulmate?" Harry helped Severus sit on the bed.

"Yes, how did you know?"

"I guessed, mom wouldn't tell me her soulmate but I guessed." 

Harry smiled at Severus and the man wondered how Harry could so easily trust him. 

Even after what he'd found out.


	11. Soulmates

Harry had left Severus in the hospital wing and had gone to find his mother. Lily smiled slightly when Harry walked into the astronomy tower but faltered when he just looked at her.

"Mum, why don't you here Sev out?" He asked.

"He killed your father and you don't even care?!" 

"Of course I do, but he's your soulmate. What happened to the last decade you spent together?"

"He kept it a secret that he was Death Eater, he..."

"No. Talk to him, he begged Voldemort to spare you because he never stopped loving you." 

Lily sat on a desk, "What about James?"

"What about him? Sev made a mistake after being bullied for years by James and you shut him out. So of course he'd go somewhere he felt useful. Important." Harry snapped, and Lily gasped at the venom in her sons voice.

"He had no one but you, his soulmate, then you date and marry his tormentor. I had to drug him he was becoming hysterical. Maybe you should just talk to him instead of once again blocking him out because of some stupid mistake." 

Harry got up and left, he knew further conversation was useless and went to the hospital wing where Severus was lying in unconscious.

"Mister Potter I hope you realise drugging him was irresponsible especially when running off." Madame Pomfrey said.

"Yes but I'd hoped to resolve the situation and needed to talk with my mother. I apologise but will leave a note explaining for Severus then return to the Slytherin common rooms."

Madam Pomfrey nodded and went back to her office, Harry sighed and scrawled a note explaining that he spoke with his mother and apologising for using a dreamless sleep potion on him.

Quickly he left it on a bedside table and walked back to Slytherin common rooms, hopefully everyone would be in bed. However there were still some up including Draco.

"Harry! Are you okay?" Draco walked over followed by Blaise. They knew some touch was okay but hugging was probably not in this situation.

"Can we go back to our dorm, please?"

Draco nodded and once they where back in their dorms, they sat opposite Harry and watched him carefully. He was paler than normal and shaking slightly.

"Are you okay?" Blaise sat forward, studying Harry.

"I'm fine but..." He carefully explained the graveyard and saw Draco pale significantly. Blaise was neutral and smiled when he realised his mother was going to keep him Italy during the war.

"I'm...I'm going to bed, goodnight." Harry walked away.

"Now might be your only chance, when Harry finds out your fathers a Death Eater he'll freak." Blaise whispered, unknowing that Harry had started eavesdropping. Harry had heard his name and waited to listen.

"What am I supposed to do? Go up to him and say 'I think your my soulmate because I can't see the colour green except your eyes properly he hates contact for Merlin's sake."

"Because he spent years in the desert with Professor Snape and Potter. Try to talk to him or just casually brush hands. I don't know."

"And if we are, him finding out about my family's affiliation with the Dark Lord his reaction will be worse. Drop it Blaise, please."

"You'd go without a soulmate, knowing who it could be. Why?"

"Because then He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named will have something else to hurt Harry with. Just drop it Blaise please."

Draco walked off to his room, leaving Harry's mind spinning. For years he'd wondered but never acted on the thought that Draco was his soulmate. Though it kind of explained third year.

Harry decided to talk with his mother and Severus, assuming the two had made up.

 

*

 

The next morning Harry ran to find them and dragged them away from the head table much to everyone's amusement. 

He then locked them in a potions lab to talk privately with them.

"Have you talked?" Harry spoke mainly to Lily.

"Yes, we made up. And seen as you know..." Severus looked at Lily.

"We're not gonna hide our relationship." Lily smiled.

Harry beamed, "the war, what side are we on?"

"Dumbledore and Voldemort are as bad as each other. So I don't know." Lily sighed.

"We have to play this out, finish Voldemort and Dumbledore later on. How though, we'll need plans and the Dark Lord won't exactly be easy to kill." Harry muttered.

Severus nodded to ignore the burn where his mark reacted to them saying Voldemort.

"I'll talk with Sirius maybe we can stay at Grimmauld Place. He'll be happy to spend time with you and we can figure everything out." Lily said, she looked happy at the prospect of being with the animagus. They where best friends after all.

"Great, there's something else. About my soulmate that is." 

"Have you found them yet?" Severus asked while Lily watched him closely.

"No but I think it might be Draco and his parents are prominent Death Eaters."

"First you need to see if he really is your soulmate." Lily said, trying to think of way to be wherever the two where when he figured it out.

Harry nodded and undid the locking charm to find Draco. The blonde was just walking out the Great Hall. 

"Draco I need to talk with you." Harry ignored his feelings, he'd known he'd crushed on the blonde for ages now.

"Sure Harry." Draco smiled as Blaise snickered behind him.

The Italian knew of Draco's crush on Harry for years now.

They walked out to the grounds, towards the lake until they where far enough away that Harry didn't think anyone would be but added all manor of privacy charms. Including an notice-me-not charm.

"Harry what's this about?" 

Harry looked over the lake which looked silver in the light, faded silver, but still silver. The only other person he knew had silver eyes was Lucius but the thought made him shudder.

"I...um...I heard you and Blaise the other night. Do you truly not see green?" Harry didn't looked at Draco, focusing on the lake to hide his blush.

"Y-yes what's your colour?" Draco asked, he bit his lip as Harry turned to face him.

"Silver." Harry grabbed Draco's wrist making sure to actually touch his skin not just his robes like every time before.

Draco gasped and looked over Harry shoulder as a current of electricity shot through him and Harry. Meanwhile Harry was looking at the lake again as it became a beautiful silver colour not the faded one he'd seen. 

Then Harry imagined not seeing green properly and looked at his soulmate.

"Draco." Harry was souring inside and didn't notice they where still holding hands.

"We're soulmates." Draco looked at Harry and put his hand on Harry's cheek "but my parents."

Draco backed away sadly, as Harry started thinking. There was no way he was losing his soulmate not after everything the past year.

"Come with me, we can live with my godfather Severus and mom. Your not marked so you won't be tracked easily. And...and"

Draco's head jerked up from where he had been staring at the ground to watch Harry.

"Really they wouldn't mind?"

Harry shook his head "I'm not losing you, so they'd better agree because your coming anyway."

Draco smiled and pulled Harry into a hug, who returned it easily. They also missed their lessons that morning as they lost track of time.


	12. Astronomy

"So we're agreed?" Harry glanced up at Draco.

They where in the astronomy tower sitting on one of the desks, Harry's head tucked into the crook of Draco's neck. 

Draco nodded while his mother and Severus watched silently from where they where leaning on the teachers desks with arms around each other.

"Great, but what about your parents Draco?" Lily asked.

They had agreed to just floo Draco over to Grimmauld Place for the summer, where they would all be living with Sirius even though Lily was technically Lady Potter and had a range of Manors across Britain and a couple in Europe to chose from.

"They will have to believe that I have disappeared." Draco shrugged.

"That is the best option, Luce won't be able to keep it from the Dark Lord for long neither will Cissa." Severus frowned.

"If they think I've been kidnapped or ran away then they'll keep fighting, at least mother will, to stay alive until one side wins. Then try to find me afterwards. Whereas if they think I'm dead they'll give up and you-know-who wants useful servants." 

Harry sighed and hugged Draco closer, he knew it must be hard for Draco.

"So end of term you will go to Sirius's with Sev and me and Harry will arrive later as he will need an alibi so has to get the train." Lily smiled even though there where many things that could go wrong.

Like a surprise Death Eater attack.

"Can't we break out Lucius and Narcissa as well?" Lily wondered.

"Mother, yes, she had yet to take the dark mark but not father. He can be tracked using it. Its better this way as mother is a highly skilled healer and can keep father safe." Draco smiled as Lily grasped at straws to somehow keep him with his parents. 

"We have to go, in two days meet me in my lab with your possessions. I'll diffuse all tracking charms and such, then we'll go to the mutts." Severus swept out with Lily.

Both teens heard a muffled thud as they walked out of sight.

"Harry?" 

They sat up so they could see each other.

"Can we stay here tonight?" Draco looked at the desk as a blush rose on his cheeks. Then he had an armful of Harry.

They fell backwards and ended up on the floor. Draco underneath with a perfect view of the sky while Harry listened to his heartbeat. Gently Draco held Harry against him and together they fell asleep under the stars.


	13. Grimmauld Place

Draco sighed while Sirius watched in amusement. The blonde was pacing the length of the room, occasionally looking at the fireplace or muttering under his breath.

"Calm down, they'll be here soon." Sirius stood and gripped Draco's shoulder.

"I know but what if something happens to them?" 

Sirius sighed, Draco had arrived at Grimmauld Place relatively relaxed. They packed away his belongings and talked for a while but with each passing hour Draco became more agitated.

The fire place erupted into green flames and Harry tumbled out followed by Lily who merely stumbled and Severus who was as graceful as ever.

"Harry!" Draco hugged Harry tightly and helped him up off the floor.

"He's been agitated all evening." Sirius whispered, amused as the teens cling to each other.

"So was Harry, it was quite annoying." Severus muttered.

They yelped when Lily elbowed them, "Like you two are any better. If you had your way me and Remus would be locked away forever."

"We just want you to be safe." Sirius groaned.

"And we want to know where you are, we worry that's all." Severus ground out.

Neither would admit it but Lily was right, they just thought up excuses to avoid being wrong.

"Have they had dinner?" Sirius asked.

"You've been with him for hours, black, how do you not know?"

"He was too busy gazing longing at the fireplace." 

Lily glared at them before going over to Harry and Draco.

"Why don't you go to bed?" She suggested, as they reluctantly pulled apart.

Lily smiled as they walked upstairs, Sirius frowned when he realised they where going to Draco's room but one look from Severus made him keep his mouth shut.

 

*

 

Harry flopped onto a chair in the kitchen, watching his mother cook something.

"Sleep well." Lily said, it wasn't really a question as Harry slept like a log more often then not.

Harry nodded and shivered, "just cold."

Lily frowned and looked at him "do you know why?" 

"Yeah, Dray forced me to get up and now I'm cold."

Severus scoffed as he walked in and back hugged Lily, she turned to kiss him.

"I'm going back to bed." Harry walked back to his room, the one he shared with Draco.

He crawled under the covers but missed Draco's warmth.


	14. Library

They all sat round the dining room table, none of them spoke but remained in thought.

"Dumbledore knows something, something he won't tell me." Severus broke the silence.

"Of course he does. Does Grimmauld Place have a library?" Draco asked.

"Yes why?" Sirius looked curiously at Draco who smiled.

"I was thinking about how the dark lord came back. He would've had to use extremely dark magic to still be alive." Draco answered

"He should've died by the killing curse but didn't and instead wandered around as a soul." Harry said, he got up and headed to the door with Draco.

"We'll search the library for anything that could achieve that."

"And if we need to talk as a group?" Lily asked, knowing where this was headed.

"Come find us."

With that the younger teens walked out.

"Their like their mothers." Sirius said, turning to look at Lily and Severus.

"They aren't they." Severus smiled slightly.

"You know Narcissa Malfoy."

"Before she was Narcissa Malfoy, she was Narcissa Black. We grew up together and Draco is very much like her. I'll see if I can offer any assistance to Draco and Harry." Sirius followed.

"He's very different, in school Sirius avoided the library and general work." Severus remarked.

"People can change, Sirius is testament. So can you at least try to be civil and stop calling him mutt?" Lily stood up.

"Sure."

Lily smiled and kissed Severus.

 

 

Harry sighed and dropped his head onto the book he'd been reading. Draco rubbed his back from where he was sitting without looking up.

Sirius copied Harry, but Draco just smirked. They where sitting on a couch in the library. Draco in the middle, with Harry on the left and Sirius on his right.

They'd spent the past three hours going through several books but the Black Library was huge and there was no way they'd find anything soon.

"We're never going to find anything." Sirius groaned.

"Speak for yourself, I found a book entirely on venomous snakes." Harry grinned, he sat up and picked up a book from the floor.

"Useful books, Harry. For our situation. I've found nothing either. Have you?" Draco asked, his hand resting on Harry's back.

"No, although the Black's collected a lot of books on magical and non-magical creatures. Especially dangerous ones." Harry sighed.

"That's the Blacks for you, interested in all things dangerous." Sirius got up.

"Hey, found anything?" Lily walked in.

"Nothing." Draco replied.

"Let's try tomorrow, its getting late." Lily smiled.

"Can I take some books in case I wake up during the night?" Harry asked. He tried use doe eyes on his mother even though she'd claimed they'd stopped working years ago.

"Fine, but don't come downstairs tomorrow complaining of being tired." Lily narrowed his eyes at him.

Harry nodded before grabbing several books of a shelf and dragging Draco to their bedroom. Sirius leaned back on the couch.

"You coming, Padfoot?" Lily asked, frowning as he continued flicking through book with a black cover and gold lettering.

"Nah, I'm going to go through some more of these. Night Lils." Sirius smiled.

Lily left before remembering Sirius's promise to James after Harry had been born. Her eyes teared up and she smiled before going to bed.

Sirius promised to protect Harry, right now that meant going through hundreds of books in an house he had despised since childhood.


	15. Horcruxes

Severus was called out to a Death Eater meeting followed by one with Albus Dumbledore. Whilst Lily and Sirius were getting incredibly annoyed with Dumbledore's attempts to let them use Grimmauld Place as an hideout for the Order of Phoenix. 

"What are we going to do?" Draco sighed, he was looking way to closely at his book to actually be reading.

"Not let Dumbledore in, why?" Harry put his book down after marking his place.

"He'll find a way eventually, won't it be easier if..."

"Don't you dare say it'll be easier if you leave, I won't let you. Dumbledore can go shove the sword of Gryffindor up his ass before he gets what he wants." Harry glared and Draco smiled happily.

"Thanks." Draco hugged Harry tightly, the raven haired boy pulled his soulmate onto his lap to hold him closer.

"If you're done cuddling, lunch is ready." Lily smiled from the door of the library.

 

Voldemort glared at his followers, he ignored the potions master. He'd already gotten his punishment for not answering his call in the graveyard, even after explaining his position with Dumbledore.

Voldemort dismissed his inner circle before turning back to the others for their punishment then assignments.

Severus headed directly for the Malfoy's closest fireplace when Narcissa ambushed him with Lucius. She pulled him into an sitting room which was actually where Severus had been heading for.

"Sev, Draco's missing. Please, do you know where he is?" Narcissa asked, it wasn't uncommon for Draco to stay with Severus without informing his parents first.

"No, but I'll look for him." Severus tried for a small smile.

"You honestly don't know where my son is?" Lucius ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry Lucius, I will look for him." Severus embraced his friend for second before saying goodbye and flooeing to Spinner's End. Then apparating to a ran muggles house and using their fireplace to go to Grimmauld Place.

Once there he took several potions for the aftermath of being it hit with the cruciatus curse. Then went to see Dumbledore. There was no way Lily was finding out about him being crucio'd.

"Ah, Severus. How was your meeting?" Dumbledore smiled but it was obviously strained.

"Nothing happened, he was just throwing the cruciatus curse around." Severus scowled.

"Shame, shame. There is something you need to know." Dumbledore sighed, "I don't have much time left. But I have found a way to destroy Voldemort once and for all."

"How?" Severus sat forward as Dumbledore held up his hand. He pulled his chair up to the desk to examine his hand. 

His fingers were black and rotting, the curse spreading slowly. Dumbledore took out a ring and put it in front of Severus.

"I have a three months maybe half a year at most. This ring is of more interest. Tell me what do you know of horcruxes, Severus?" Dumbledore nodded at the ring.

"Incredibly dark magic, to make one. A person must kill another to spilt their soul then contain in an object. To restore ones soul they must feel remorse for what they did." Severus stared intently at the man.

"Yes and as long as one remains, their still tied to this earth. Voldemort has made seven, I believe anyway. This ring is proof." Dumbledore sighed again, "It is also cursed, when worn it starts rotting the body." 

"Seven?! Never mind, there is a spell to prolong the curse." Severus started the incantation, thinking over this new information. His finished quickly then sat back to inspect Dumbledore.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I had reason to believe that he made horcruxes the night he died but never acted on it. When young Harry came to Hogwarts I knew." Dumbledore turned to look out the window not seeing Severus's barely contained rage, "He unintentionally made Harry into one the night he attacked him." 

Severus was seething by now, "The others?"

"Slytherin's locket, Hufflepuff's Cup, Ravenclaw's Diadem, this ring, his diary, nagini and Harry himself. You're going to tell him aren't you?" 

"How can I not?! All this time you've intended for him to die! I can't not tell him!"

"Think of the boy, let him live a happy life Severus before he has to die." Dumbledore started grasping for straws.

"He can, I will ensure that spends his time on this earth happily. Away from you." Severus growled.

"Will he return for the start of the year?" Dumbledore asked.

"He can decide but don't get your hopes up. Goodbye Albus, the spell means you have an entire year to sort out your affairs." Severus left quickly to tell the others the news.

At least now he knew what to search for.


	16. Lockets and Diaries

Severus was pale and shaky as Lily guided him to a chair, she was waiting for him and caught him when he fell out the fireplace. 

"Sev are you okay?" Lily was biting her lip.

"I'm fine, get everyone. I know how to defeat Voldemort." 

Lily's eyes widened but she ran off to get them quickly. She came back in with Harry, Draco and Sirius trailing behind her.

They rushed over but he waved them away, Lily ushering them to sit down. They stared as Severus recounted his conversation with Dumbledore leaving nothing out.

By the end, Harry had tears running down his face while Draco was shaking. Sirius was staring and Lily was frozen.

"I'm...I'm supposed to die?" Harry whispered.

Severus nodded, Harry burst into fresh tears and turned to hug Draco. The blonde grabbed Harry and pulled him onto his lap, crying into Harry's hair.

Lily walked over to kneel on the sofa next them and wrap her arms around them. Sirius was staring into space distractedly and Severus had no idea what to do.

"That damn elf!" Sirius ran out the room yelling profanities. The others jumped and stared after him, except Harry who had buried his face in Draco's chest.

A few minutes later he returned with a locket in hand and a grin across his face. Harry turned when he heard the low hissing it emitted.

"Kreacher used to wear this after Regulus disappeared. Then he kept it in his cupboard. Do you think it's a horcrux?" Sirius held it at arms length.

Severus got up to examine it as did Lily. After a few minutes they both nodded.

"It has the Slytherin crest, it must be. There is another way to check." Severus said, looking at Harry. "Horcruxes are drawn to another that holds the same soul as them."

"Basically you want to have me be a metal detector for Voldemort's soul." Harry said, he glared at the locket.

"Yes, I'm sorry Harry. Can you see if your...drawn to it?" Lily asked, she hated having to do this.

Harry nodded and walked over before standing near it. Suddenly he found himself being jerked back against Draco's chest. The adults had been watching in fascination when Harry seemed to go into an trance and reached out to touch it. Then Draco had got up to pull Harry agibst his chest and away from the locket.

"Its a horcrux." Harry was shaking slightly.

"So Harry will definitely be able to tell if something's a horcrux." Lily said as Draco grew pale.

"Dray are you okay?" Harry whispered to Draco while the adults talked.

"Before the start of second year, father slipped the youngest Weasley a black book. I figured out it was a diary but never wrote in it. The initials on it are TMR." Draco murmured, "I think it may be a horcrux as father was highly favored in the first war. Voldemort would definitely give his most loyal artifacts without telling them what it was."

"Where is it?" Harry asked.

"Upstairs, why?" Draco looked over at the adults quickly.

"We need to check if its truly a horcrux." Harry replied.

Draco nodded and slipped away to get it. After he held it in front of Harry but didn't let him get anywhere near it. Harry confirmed it was a horcrux and yawned quietly.

"Ms Potter?" Draco drew their attention away from the locket.

"What have I said?" Lily smiled.

"Mum? We're going to bed but we have the diary horcrux here." Draco handed it over before picking Harry up to take him to bed.

"That's three down four to go." Sirius sighed, "tomorrow we'll try to figure out how to destroy one."

"I have an idea, goodnight Sirius." Severus nodded at the man.

"Goodnight...Severus." Sirius walked away.

Lily yawned, but smiled at Severus, "we have three horcruxes. That's something. I'm guessing there's something you wanted to ask Harry."

"Yes, whether or not he'd be returning to Hogwarts." 

They began to walk up the stairs to their room.

"He might, but we need to learn more about Voldemort's past because we might find places of value to him that he'd hide some of his soul." Lily sighed.

"Tomorrow, Lils, tomorrow." Severus kissed her forehead as he opened their bedroom door.


	17. Avada Kedavra

"So how we do destroy these?" Draco asked.

They where seated around an circular table in the library with the two horcruxes placed in the middle.

"There are no recorded ways to destroy a horcrux but I suppose the killing curse would suffice." Severus glared at them.

"Why do you think that?" Sirius furrowed his eyebrows at Severus.

"The killing curse roughly translates to 'I create dead bodies as I speak', or something to that affect." Lily answered for her soulmate, "the curse not only kills but rips a soul from its container, in the natural case a human. So in theory it would rip the soul from its unnatural container. Or these items."

They nodded grimly to this information. Draco noticed Harry was shaking lightly and put his arm around Harry. The raven haired teen smiled at his soulmate at the gesture and leaned on Draco's shoulder.

"Who should do it?" Harry asked, unknowingly voicing everyone's thoughts.

"Both me and Severus are ideal. Severus's work as a Death Eater and Aurors like me and James where told to kill any of the Voldemort's minions on sight." Sirius sighed, he rubbed his forehead quickly.

"Yes but I'm also an candidate as I share a piece of that bastards soul. Draco because he's my soulmate and mum because she's my mother. Any of us could do it, its not a question of whether we've done it in the past. Plus if this world has its way, I'll kill Voldemort and then possibly sent to Azkaban for murdering someone because the ministry can't face the possibility of anyone being able to weild powerful magic and overthrow them." Harry took a deep breath after his ramble.

"I think an adult should do this Harry, its not a question that both you and Draco might have to kill but not now. Also I'm going to let that language slide because its about Voldemort." Lily replied, glaring lightly at her son.

Harry blushed and mumbled an apology quickly. The adults smiled but kept quiet, after a quick debate using only facial expressions Sirius and Severus spoke up.

"I will destroy one and Sirius the other. We have many more horcruxes to find so each of you will inevitably get a...turn for lack of a better word." Severus said, "we both want you outside for this. Please." 

Severus only added the last bit for Lily's benefit but they complied and left. 

The two men faced each other before turning their wands on the two items. Severus used the killing curse on the diary and Sirius the locket.

Annoyingly both appeared unharmed and they called the other back in.

"You can't be done, both are exactly the same as they where when we left." Harry frowned at them.

"We don't know why that happened, we would like your opinions." Severus glared at the two horcruxes.

"Maybe they need to be opened." Lily hesitantly opened the diary.

"How do we get this open then?" Draco fiddled with the locket but it wouldn't open.

He passed it to the others but they had no such luck. When Harry picked it up he frowned at it then saw the snake crest and had an idea.

He mumbled open to the locket and it swung open, except they where all blasted back. Draco hit his head on the edge of a bookshelf, he collapsed as a dark fog like substance swept around the occupants of the room.

Harry was trying to crawl to his soulmate but the horcrux was keeping him pinned to the ground and he could only move slightly. Lily and Severus where trying to see through the mist or whatever it was but couldn't see anything.

It was Sirius who acted, he caught glimpses of the horcrux and aimed carefully. He yelled Avada Kedavra and hit his target easily.

Grimmauld Place shook with the horcruxes scream but it disappeared, Harry went sliding to Draco's side and gently pulled him into his arms tears streaming down his face.

Lily went over and cast some healing charms on Draco and diagnostic ones on Harry to check if he was okay and they came back clean.

Sirius stood shakily and sighed in relief when Severus destroyed the diary as well, black ink leaking from the edges. Both shared a look before setting both on fire.

"The dark lord will call soon, I need to go prepare." Severus said, Sirius and Lily nodded as Harry was oblivious to everything but his soulmate.

"Look after them, Sirius." Severus watched them carefully.

"Of course, try to come back alive." Sirius replied, "I don't want to loose any of you."

Severus smiled sadly and left, both men knew that Voldemort would be in pain from the destruction of two horcruxes and would throw the killing curse around without aiming for anyone in particular.

Sirius did want Severus to come back alive not just for Lily but because he considered them all family even with the rocky past he had with Severus.

He helped get Draco to bed and smiled again when Harry refused to leave the blondes side and Lily wanted to make sure nothing happened to Draco. He stayed and wished Remus was with.

But he needed to keep his soulmate and werewolf safe which meant leaving Remus Lupin in blissful ignorance in Europe for the time being.

 


	18. Life Debt's

Dumbledore sighed from his position behind the desk. No doubt the Potter child knew everything by now.

That meant he would most likely stay the hell away from Hogwarts for the year, not that Dumbledore cared anymore. He was dying so any and every plan he had for the child where ruined. Harry couldn't be used to get Dumbledore but he still had a damned life debt with Molly to pay off.

Then again it would die with him but there was a way to successfully split up Harry and any soulmate he did have. But first the child needed to return to Hogwarts.

He called Molly and got her to come over immediately.

"Is this about your life debt to me?" Molly asked with narrowed eyes. She'd been trying for days to talk to Albus about it.

"Yes, you see I believe the darned Potter boy has found his soulmate. Its not Ginny but its a Slytherin." Dumbledore was lying, he had no idea of such a thing but he needed to play Molly correctly for this to work.

"What?! I've wanted Ginny to be with him! We need the wealth!" Molly had been planning her youngest's wedding to the boy-who-lived for years. All the things she could do with the Potter wealth. She shivered thinking about it.

"That's what I wanted to talk about. If he comes back to Hogwarts then we get Ginny to dose him with Amortentia and you get the wealth. Plus my life's debts is paid off." Dumbledore smiled.

He couldn't care less about the life debt anymore, he wanted revenge for years of failed plans and ruining Harry's chances with any soulmate he might have was perfect.

"Yes! That's wonderful Albus, Ginny will love that. I'll go tell her the good news. But where are we going to get Amortentia." Molly frowned.

"Ask ms Granger. Say she can't brew such a complicated potion, she'll jump at the chance." Dumbledore smiled kindly.

"The little muggleborn loves to prove how amazing she is. Perfect for Ron, he needs someone more academic in his life." Molly left quickly to tell her daughter the good news.

Now to get Harry to return.

*

"I need to go back." Harry said calmly.

"The headmaster will try to manipulate you for his plans." Severus replied equally as calm.

Lily, Sirius and Draco watched in awe of two incredibly stubborn males talk without raising their voices once, like they would've done.

"Unless you can brake me into Hogwarts and to the seventh floor, then I must return." Harry shrugged and sipped his tea.

"And what, pray tell, is on the seventh floor you so desperately need?" Severus drawled, the mask of indifference.

"The diadem horcrux." Harry smirked in victory as everyone stared in shock.

"How did you know?" Lily asked, she smiled a little as she beat Severus to the question.

"Simple, often I would explore the castle and found the room of requirement. Once I needed to house something and found it. Inside was a statue with a blue tiara hanging of it. I realised late last night that it was Ravenclaw's Diadem." Harry finished and took another sip of his tea.

"A horcrux has been in the school the entire time and no one knew." Draco shrieked.

"Yes, but I need to go back so we can destroy it." Harry smiled.

"But I can't go back, I'm missing remember." Draco stared at the table sadly.

"You could be a foreign exchange student whose parents where killed by Voldemort. He did recently kill some muggles in France." Sirius smiled.

"Yeah, your parents could've been hiding but where found and killed with the muggles." Lily grinned trying to comfort him.

"Then we can stay together." Harry got up to sit in Draco's lap and hug him.

"That's settled then, I'm going to....do something." Sirius smiled and left but he was very obviously upset.

"Mum what's wrong with Sirius?" Harry asked.

Draco unconsciously pulled Harry closer in an attempt to comfort him.

"His soulmate is somewhere in Europe. Sirius won't call him because he wants to keep Remus safe." Lily grimaced, "let's not wallow in sadness we need plans a...and..."

"Lils maybe just let them have a day together." Severus dragged her away but she didn't protest.

"What do you want to do?" Harry asked.

"You." Draco picked Harry up and carried them to their room with a smirk.


	19. Gabriel Chase

Draco was complaining about the fact Harry and Lily had opted to dye his hair dark brown instead of using glamors but had agreed. After a while.

His eyes had been changed to light blue and his skin was lightly tanned. They'd all came up with various names until Draco chose to go by Gabriel Chase. He was accepted quickly and Severus was highly suspicious of Dumbledore's absent minded regard to the new student and his smug behaviour.

The new year had started with ease, Gabriel was sorted into Slytherin who didn't pay any attention to him. All of them where in varying states of shock because Draco hadn't come back. They thought Harry had something to do with it and the couple had kept it a secret that they where soulmates.

Instead Harry played it of that Gabriel was his soulmate and had gotten him Draco's old room so there was little change. Though the Slytherin's had a fit that the new halfblood got a purebloods room.

Harry had been quick to shut them down as had Lily, Severus just glared at anyone who opened their mouth.

During a free period, Draco and Harry where sitting by the lake when Ginny came up to them.

"Harry, can I talk to you?" Ginny asked, she was shifting nervously and looking everywhere but them.

"Just tell me, Gabriel can know too." Harry smiled warmly at her to get Ginny to relax, it worked but only slightly.

"Dumbledore wants me to use a love potion on you." Ginny said, she shut her eyes tightly and waited for an answer.

"Why are you telling me?" Harry squirmed when Draco, or Gabriel's, hold of him tightened.

"I never wanted this, I mean yeah I had a stupid crush on you. But I never wanted to base an entire relationship on a potion. Anyway, if the rumors are true then you've found your soulmate and I'm not going to be the reason you split up." Ginny said, they noticed that as she carried on she got angrier and started gesturing wildly with her arms.

"So you told us, to keep us together?" Draco asked.

"Basically." Ginny found herself being smothered in a hug from Draco, so she awkwardly patted him on the back while Harry smirked.

"Thank you." Draco whispered.

He released Ginny who smiled sadly at them and walked back to the castle, feeling lighter than she had in days. Draco sat back down with Harry and didn't let him go for the next few hours. 


	20. Room of Requirement

Harry had been wandering with Draco when they came upon a weird tapestry  on the seventh floor.  Draco couldn't care less but Harry found something odd about the passage and the tapestry in particular. They stayed there for a while until Draco dragged him down to dinner. For the rest of the weekend Harry would return to the passageway to figure out what was bothering him.

Draco would act annoyed but honestly didn't mind. He thought it was adorable how frustrated Harry would get staring at the tapestry.

After a while a blonde haired girl came up to them and spoke in quiet whispers with Harry. Draco smiled when Harry turned around with an excited gleam in his eye and dragged him away to the seventh floor.

"What's this about?" Draco asked when he stood swaying slightly in front of the tapestry after Harry let him go.

"Luna, that girl, told me what I needed to do. Watch this." Harry paced three times in front of the tapestry bit nothing happened.

"So...what was supposed to happen?" Draco smirked when Harry glared at him.

Suddenly a door appeared and Draco stepped back in shock. Harry grinned happily and pulled Draco inside.

The room was designed oddly, it was literally rows of random objects stacked together and it looked like everything was going to come down on their heads.

"Harry, why are we here?" Draco saw some Cornish pixies dive in and out of the stacks.

"Luna told me she's a seer, but you can't tell anyone, and that what we are searching for is in here." Harry smiled, "Sev already told us what the rest are now we just need to find it."

"And get the ring off Dumbledore." Draco scowled remembering Ginny's words. Harry came up behind him and wrapped Draco in a hug.

"This might take a while but we need to get rid of the horcruxes, once and for all." Harry whispered, he tried not to think about he himself was a horcrux. Draco turned to crush his soulmate against him and murmured into his ear.

"We'll find it." 


	21. Fiendfyre

Harry had gone to straight to Severus when the man had been called by Voldemort. Now him, Draco and Lily where sitting and waiting for him.

Suddenly, Severus tumbled out the fireplace with a manic grin.

"Fiendfyre." 

"What?" Draco helped him up while the mother and son stared with horror at him.

"Fiendfyre is a dark curse, Draco, it seeks living targets despite not being sentient. Also its incredibly hard to control, what about it Sev?" Lily frowned at her soulmate.

"Voldemort kept muttering about different spells that could have killed his horcruxes and fiendfyre was one." Severus smiled.

"But we haven't found it yet." Harry rolled his eyes.

"Unless... We torch the room." Draco shrugged and blushed uncertainly when three pairs of eyes focused on him.

"But if its hard to control, it might not work and destroy Hogwarts instead." Severus commented.

"This is why I was placed in Gryffindor, for doing idiotic things." Lily smiled happily and started walking at a brisk pace out the room and through the dungeons.

The males shared a look before following. Nothing was spoken as they made their way to the room when suddenly Luna appeared.

She smiled eerily at them but kept silent until they reached it.

"Use mine." Luna held out her wand to Lily.

"What? No.." Lily started.

"Your wand won't survive, its not suited for dark magic. Mine is, take it." Luna pushed it into Lily's grip, "I don't mind." 

Luna ignored her protests as she walked away and Harry chuckled slightly before encouraging her mother, telling her Luna's ability.

Severus pushed open the door as Lily began the incantation and consequently lit the very flammable room on fire. The doors closed by themselves and despite being incredibly careful, Luna's wand turned to ash.

"That was anticlimactic compared to the other two don't you think?" Draco said.

Without warning Harry collapsed in pain. Harry saw flashes of green and someone with blonde brown hair collapse in pain before the vision ended with green flames.

He vaguely realised his mother and Severus where casting numerous spells on him while Draco rocked him silently before passing out.


	22. Tears

Harry's head was pounding when he awoke, he had a weird burning in his throat and his eyelids where practically glued shut. He whimpered when a blinding light hurt his eyes when opening them.

"Harry!" 

The light got blocked out by a shadow but his vision was still blurry. Harry closed his eyes aware of how tired he suddenly was. It was like his body had somehow been filled with cement, that's how heavy it felt.

"Harry?" 

He recognised that Draco was speaking and noticed that he sounded less excited more unsure.

"D...Draco?" Harry's voice was rough and he was trying to remember what had happened but nothing came to mind.

There was a sigh of relief before strong arms wrapped around his waist and a comfortable weight sprawled across his body. Harry smiled, though it probably resembled a grimace, when he realised Draco was half lying on him in an attempt to cuddle.

"Harry, are you okay?" Draco whispered.

"I th...think so." Harry opened his eyes so he could see his soulmate who'd buried his head in the crook of Harry's neck.

"Do you need anything?" Draco sounded unsure and his voice was impossibly small.

The burning in his throat to the chance to agonizingly remind him of how dehydrated he was.

"W...water?" Harry watched as Draco awkwardly got water from the bedside table without removing one arm from around his waist.

It was embarrassing when he needed help drinking but Draco was forever an angel to him and just smiled happily.

Draco reassumed his position so Harry closed his eyes.

"You collapsed suddenly. After the horcrux was destroyed." Draco mumbled.

Harry opened his mouth only to be cut off by Draco speaking and he wondered whether the blonde was thinking aloud or actually talking to him.

"You started shaking and screaming. There was nothing Lily or Severus could do. There was nothing I could do. That's when it became real that to finish this I will lose you. I c...can't..."

Draco trembled as he silently cried. Harry found enough to strength to hold Draco against him as he tried not to cry.

There was no way he'd come out of this alive.


	23. Stupid Prophecy

They were sitting in Severus and Lily's quarters listening to Harry recount the flashes he'd seen whilst collapsing.

"Blonde brown, the only death eater I can think of is Narcissa." Severus glanced warily at Draco who just swallowed heavily.

"I wonder how much soul he even has left. Each horcrux splitting his main soul in halves. How could someone do it once let alone...seven?" Lily shivered and smiled softly at the comforting arm Severus draped over her shoulder.

Harry decided at that moment that he was not going to let his stupid prophecy hurt his family anymore than it already had. He hugged Draco carefully, like even if he let go for a second his soulmate would crumble into ash.

Draco snuggled further into his embrace as dangerous circulated Harry's mind. 

 


	24. Midnight

Harry knew that he would always have his parents, Sirius and Draco to help him defeat Voldemort.

But he hated putting them in danger, he knew he would have to die for the war to end but didn't want his soulmate to get hurt because of him.

Whilst Draco was sleeping he snuck away to walk around the castle and accidently ran into Dumbledore.

The old man stared sadly at Harry for a few moments. To an observer he would seem apologetic, but they both knew he was saddened at his failed plans.

"I never wanted it to end this way." Dumbledore said, he was trying to get Harry to be sympathetic. He weaved compulsion charms into his words.

"Funny, because I did." Harry replied bluntly, his eyes flicked down to Dumbledore's hand.

Dumbledore winced, he had wanted to talk to Harry, get Harry back on his side. But it was obviously impossible. Dumbledore knew that in the dark recess of his twisted mind, yet he still refused to accept it. 

"Dear boy, it wasn't supposed to end like this." Dumbledore sighed, putting on his 'grandfatherly' voice. He looked after the top of glasses.

"You got what you deserve, not what you want." Harry shrugged and walked off, leaving Dumbledore to his devices. There was no way he could stomach talking to Dumbledore for another minute.

He walked for another few minutes before running into Luna. Harry had absolutely no idea why he seemed to be running into everyone that night.

Harry liked Luna, she seemed totally naive and innocent, harmless. Yet there was something she was hiding and he wanted to know what. Although he probably would never know.

Luna was standing in the moonlight staring upwards. Harry stopped next to her, following her line of vision. A pair of red shoes dangled from the beams, swaying mockingly.

"The ravenclaws are always hiding my belongings." Luna smiled at him without looking away.

"Why would you hide shoes in the ceiling?" For a smart house, ravenclaws could be quite stupid.

"There is a difference between being wise and being smart, Harry." She turned to face him, half of lit up by the moon, the other half in darkness. "Sometimes the smartest decision, isn't the wisest."

Harry stood puzzled, watching her stare into his soul.

"The Ravenclaw's hide my things because I'm different, Harry, I'm not like them. So I keep my loved ones close, because it will hurt them more to push them away. Do you understand Harry?" 

Harry stumbled back at the serious tone that had entered her voice.

"Never say goodbye. Goodbyes are permanent Harry." Luna took one look at her shoes before walking off.

Harry only just noticed she was barefoot.


	25. Decisions

Harry didn't know what to do. Before his weird conversation with Luna, his mind was made up. He would leave his soulmate, his family, so that they could be safe whilst he searched for the horcruxes and destroyed them. Then he'd return, say his final goodbyes, die at Voldemorts hand and someone would kill him.

At least that had been his rough idea. But now Harry was second guessing himself. Luna was probably right, he needed to keep his loved ones close, except he was going to die soon so surely if he left it would hurt them less. 

"Sometimes the smartest decision isn't always the wisest."

It could have easily been one of those deep Chinese Proverbs Lily sometimes quoted. From when they'd lived in a desert with nothing but the sand beneath their feet and the weird creatures that dwelled there.

Harry was regretting coming to England, yet he would never have met Draco, his soulmate.

The teen sighed, this was too much with too little information. It was eating him from inside out. Harry groaned as he paced the Slytherin common room, the cold stones helping to ground him. Keep him in reality.

Harry wanted to leave, wanted to protect his family but what if it made everything worse? Harry could barely wake up in the morning, how was he supposed to look after himself if he did leave? 

He sighed again, but moved thoughtlessly until he had climbed into bed with Draco. Until he had one arm around his waist and his face pressed against his soulmates chest. Harry figured that he was crushing his Draco, arms wrapped too tightly around the silver haired teen. But Draco didn't even stir, his soulmate pondering something that really shouldn't have been thrust on his young shoulders.

Harry hated the adults. They were more experienced, more powerful and had left defeating a 70 something year old wizard up to a teenager. It was ridiculous.

Maybe they could run away. Harry, Draco and their odd family. Move off the continent and go elsewhere. But what would happen to England? What would happen to Draco's parents?

Harry didn't know what to do and decided he would think about in the morning. Middle of the night decisions were often the most idiotic.

 

 

 

The next morning, Harry groaned and felt an empty bed. It was almost like a sign from the universe to Harry. Then again, he'd grown up thinking nearly everything was a sign from the universe so who knew.

He padded quietly to find Draco but was cornered by Ginny, who'd pulled him into a small alcove. 

"Don't eat or drink anything." She whispered quickly.

"W...what?" Harry was barely awake.

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Don't eat or drink anything. Dumbledore's spiked your food. Or someone who's close to you." She was widely gesturing now, "basically he's spike someone's food."

"Someone who's close to me?" Harry was properly awake now but couldn't believe his ears.

"No, the third Hufflepuff from the left." Her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Harry rolled his eyes but thanked her anyway before running off. He had to get to Draco fast. Luckily he caught him before the Malfoy Heir got to the Great Hall. Harry pulled Draco away and back to the dungeons where he hoped Severus and Lily were.

 

Back in the Great Hall, Dumbledore's eyes narrowed when Harry pulled the other Slytherin away, Gabriel he thought the kids name was.

Dumbledore was still fuming over their conversion and his ruined plans. It didn't bode well when Harry avoided the Great Hall.

He would find a way to get Harry on his side. Death be damned.


	26. Reflection

Harry managed to catch Lily and Severus before either made their way to the Great Hall and breakfast was spent in the kitchens were they could watch the food being made.

It was troubling the lengths Dumbledore was going to despite his approaching death. 

What was even more worrying was their lack of progress on the Horcrux front.

So far they'd destroyed the locket, diary and diadem. But Dumbledore still had the ring, nagini was by Voldemorts side at all time, Hufflepuff cup and Harry himself.

They were still trying to figure out where Hufflepuff's cup was. Harry wanted to go to Luna again but she was nowhere to be found. Severus was talking amongst the death eaters, a horcrux had been hidden with one before, it might be again.

Draco was becoming possessive, extremely possessive. Harry couldnt complain, it was hot, but they both knew it was because Harry would probably die soon. 

Sirius was still working from the black manor. He'd even gone to scour the black vaults. Goblins having no interest in human affairs. There was nothing. Nothing to say were Hufflepuff's cup was last seen. It's was tearing him apart, hiding from Lupin. Not contacting his soulmate was torture, but it was better this way. Remus wouldnt get hurt because of him.

Lily had slowly gotten Ravenclaw interested in the history of the four founder's and especially their symbols. Sword, cup, diadem and locket. Ravenclaws had emptied their parents vaults and libraries as well as many bookstores.

Lily had bribed them with access to the potter and black libraries. 

Dumbledore was plotting other ways to get Harry on his side. He was so busy that missing books and eventually his pensive went unnoticed.

 


	27. Memories

Dumbledore didn't have a plan.

He didn't know what to do and was intent on blaming it on old age. For Dumbledore something else was always the blame, never him, always it was something else interfering with his plans. Not him for only making one plan. Nope, it was Harry or his weird new soulmate or even a book that he'd tripped over making him waste a few seconds getting up. Seconds he could use obtaining power.

 

Draco was leaning over a gold disk.

The pensieve hovered, it's surface shimmered and contorted with black ink. 

Days ago, Draco had broken into Dumbledore's office and stolen as much as he could over several days. He hoped that Dumbledore wouldn't notice and so far he hadn't. 

Draco was also taking random memories from Dumbledore's stores. He'd poured in one that had a simple TMR:WO on it. The black lines were condensing as Draco swirled the contents with his wand.

It was midnight. He was in his old room, with ruffled fake brown hair.

Draco leant forward into the pensieve as the ink formed buildings and people.

The made a street with tall buildings, one of which said Wool's Orphanage, walking towards him was Dumbledore in one of his weird flamboyant robes. 

Draco watched him enter the Orphanage and followed, he missed the conversation the man had with one of the female workers there. Instead they were shown into a small room with barely any furniture.

A boy with dark hair and eyes glared at Dumbledore, he stayed silent and backed up into a corner. The old man was smiling again but the memories started to distort. It went cloudy before ejecting Draco from the pensieve.

Fake.

The memory was a fake, but Draco had no idea why. Then it hit him, TMR, Tom Marvolo Riddle. He'd just seen a first year Voldemort, at an orphanage.

Draco rifled through the memories he had but none had the initials TMR on them. It was frustrating, this close to discovering more on Voldemort.

Maybe finding out where he would possibly hide the other horcruxes and of course there was nothing. One that had caught his attention was a small vial with the word "cup" on it.

He poured it into the pensieve and leant in quickly.

The memory wasn't long but it was enough. A memory meant to be thrown away, of Dumbledore examining Hufflepuff's cup. His face was twisted but looked younger and less wrinkled.

Draco watched him stroke the cup loving put glamors over it to disguise it as a book.

A book he'd stolen.


	28. Cups

Draco pushed things aside in his rush to see if he really had it. The book was thick and had an dark cover. Gold lettering that looking like scrawls were randomly inscribed over it.

Draco tried the normal spells for a glamour but nothing worked. Dumbledore's spell was stronger than usual glamour and Draco had to either find someone more powerful than him or another spell.

He opted for the first option and ran out towards Severus's bedrooms. Draco almost kicked the door down in his haste and practically died from the death glare.

"Why are you waking me up at this ungodly hour?" Severus asked.

"Theres a glamour on this I need you to break." 

"Couldnt this have waited?" Lily walked up behind Severus.

Draco shook his head when Harry rounded the corner.

"Why'd you run out?" Harry was rubbing his eyes.

"Severus ill explain after, can you just undo this glamour?"

The man sighed but ushered them all inside. He made Draco place it on a table before using all the spells he could think of. Severus used darker curses until one worked.

The book melted and reformed into a cup. The golden cup with the Hufflepuff insignia stood innocently.

"H...Ho...how..." Harry stared at it whilst trying to stay far away from the whispering.

"I might've stole Dumbledore's pensieve," Severus choked, "and his memories," Lily had a coughing fit, "and his books."

Harry was grinning but the adults were pale and staring at the Malfoy who shrugged and tried to look innocent. Severus just sighed, he couldn't be bothered to deal with this.

"But how do we destroy it?" Harry asked.

No one had an answer.


	29. Old Paranoia

They still hadn't decided on an answer. All they had where memories of random things the headmaster deemed important plus a select few of the dark Lord.

Draco volunteered to watch all of them. Look for anything important.

The memories of Tom Riddle had a trend, whenever something odd happened and he was there, a memory was preserved. It was incredibly annoying when it became obvious Dumbledore was a paranoid fool who believed Tom caused everything. Including an incident were peeves dropped custard all over the Gryffindor table, Draco snickered happily at that.

One memory was different. Tom must've been in his last few years, he was older and his features more defined. He was simply standing at the foot of the stairs, staring blankly at Dumbledore.

From behind the soon to be headmaster emerged a stretcher, conjured by a distraught old teacher. Ms poppy was rushing behind, looking younger than ever but the lines across her face were already appearing.

A student had died.

In Hogwarts, the safest place in Britain, a student had died and Dumbledore blamed Tom. Not surprising really, Tom was eerily blank. The young dark Lord later blamed Hagrid and got him expelled.

Hagrids track record working against him. Dumbledore managed to get the half giant a place as keeper of grounds. Useless really considering they had magic.

Draco watched as Tom Riddle was caught talking about the Chamber of Secrets and a monster. One he claimed was raised by Hagrid.

Yet from his lessons on magical history, Draco knew the Chamber of Secrets was made by Salazar Slytherin, a pureblood, who definitely wouldn't let his monster be raised by a half giant from Gryffindor.

Something wasn't right and Draco was determined to find out what.

Maybe Salazars monster could destroy a horcrux.


	30. Chamber of Secrets Pt.1

Draco was running through Hogwarts with wild abandon. He skidded round a corner only to hear voices.

"The chamber is perfectly secure sir."

"Perfect the dark Lord must not be discovered to have an entrance into the castle."

"Can't he use that cabinet in the seventh floor room?"

"Of course not idiot. Its broken, and this is safer."

The two voices dissipated along with Dracos euphoria. He'd planned on finding Harry, telling him everything or just finding out where the chamber was.

Now it turned out Voldemort had been using it to get into Hogwarts. But why? Dumbledore was dying.

Unless.

Draco followed the two people curiously and almost gave himself away. Up ahead walked professor Mcgonagall with what must've been a lesser death eater.

Mcgonagall turned to the man, wait teen, and smiled thinly.

"Tell no one of the chamber, tristen."

"What would I possibly gain?" The sarcasm was evident. There could be a lot to gain if gambled correctly.

Draco swallowed, who the hell was this "Tristen", why was Mcgonagall involved and what the hell was she doing in league with Voldemort? Only death eaters called him the dark Lord.

He saw this walk into myrtles bathroom and peak under the door to watch. Tristen hissed in parseltongue and the sinks moved. Draco almost died from shock at the giant pipe, he saw two pairs of feet walk forward then jump into the pipe.

Draco gulped nervously, he'd found the Chamber of Secrets. Somehow discovering Voldemorts hidden entrance into Hogwarts.

But Draco was torn, Tristen could be Voldemort. Or he could be a lesser death eater, either way Tristen wasn't much older than him in looks.

 

 

Harry listened in shock, he was laying next to Draco on their bed as his soulmate whispered the exchange. 

"We can't tell mom and Sev."

"What? We need to tell them." Draco panicked, despite everything they were still kids. Teenagers with too much responsibility thrown onto them.

"Draco, we can't. We don't even know what's happening down there. And Mcgonagall is involved, she's an order member and extremely light." Harry bit his lip in frustration. "We can't. What if we're wrong and we accuse her falsely?"

"So what do we do?" Draco sighed. "Just forget about it and focus on destroying the horcruxes."

"Of course not. The chamber, it's monster, it's one possible way of destroying the horcruxes in theory. We have to go down there."

"Let's go tomorrow."

 

 


	31. Chamber of Secrets Pt.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been trapped outside for a few hours now and this chapter happened. My WiFi works only if I sit against the door and it randomly started raining a few minutes ago.  
> I hope your day has been better than mine.
> 
>  **Edit** I'm inside but seriously I hope your day has been amazing or okay because as my friend said "sometimes okay is enough"

Harry follows Dracos instructions carefully. The hiss of parseltongue is too loud for their taste but it doesn't matter, the sliding marble sinks are louder.

Draco has a better look at the pipe now and cringes. It's filthy and leads into darkness. Joy.

Harry really wants to turn back, the pipe seeming too ominous in real life than in Dracos description. But he doesn't and holds Dracos hand tight in his. 

They jump together and cling to each other as they slide down it. The bottom is worse. There's no light and when they use lumos to see, there are skeletons or rotting bodies of small creatures on the floor. 

They get a good glimpse of other pipes leading into this place before scrambling forward. It's not better at the next part.

Draco identifies a dead snake skin, except it's massive. At least 50 feet long and very big. Whatever it is could swallow them whole without noticing, it's the monster, it must be.

Harry pulls them along, he wants this to be over and done with. The longer their here, the longer there is a chance of being killed.

Before coming down here, they'd broken into Lily and Severus's rooms to steal the horcrux. If there was a chance of destroying it down here they weren't going to waste it. Plus they didn't want to have to come back.

Up ahead is a circular door that's been left wide open. The inside is beautiful.

A marble walkway with snake head statues on either side. Walking down they come to the feet of a giant statue, theres water but it doesn't overflow and flood the pathways, two leading off into side entrances possibly.

Draco starts to inspect the snake statue but all Harry can look at it the man. Whoever it is, is depicted in his old age. Harry can't help but think that they've aged well, until he remembers the maker might not have made the statue in the man's true image.

"It's Salazar Slytherin." 

Harry jumps, Draco has walked up behind him and has his eyes fixed on the statues.

"How do you know?"

"Fathers old books, most had descriptions of him. But one. One had a painting." Draco feels exposed, standing there. "Oddly enough it didn't move."

Harry speaks parseltongue to see if anything happens and the statue moves. There's a grinding sound, like the sink, as the mouth opens. A clunk indicates its locked into place.

Before they do anything a slithering sound makes them back up hurriedly. Something is in the statue. The snake skin is back in the front of their minds. 

Draco is scared wondering what it is, his memory failing him. The clues are there, should be there.

From the statue falls a snake. A colossal snake.

However it doesn't attack, just surveys them from behind yellow eyes covered by a film. The snake doesn't move, it's sniffing them and Draco should feel happy but its hard with a 50ft snake staring at you.

"Mortals" the s is hissed but it's speaking english

"You speak English?!" Harry blurts out, handing clapping over his mouth unexpectedly.

"Mortals can learn my tongue but I can't learn yours." A sarcastic snake. This day is getting weirder and weirder. The snake raises itself up. "I am Alitheia."

"I am Harry?"

"You do not sound sure."

"No am I, but aren't you going to eat us?" 

Draco punches Harry's arm, why is tempting fate?

"The last mortal I interacted with was Salazar Slytherin. It has been many years since I have spoken to another. Why, pray tell, should I want to eat you?"

"Eerr.... no reason!" Harry doesn't want to be rude, but Alitheia is a giant snake that has been in a statue for centuries. She, Harry guesses she's female, has to be starving.

"Mortals." There'd a rumble as the snake laughs, "you two are cute. Cuter than the other two."

"Other two?" Draco summons courage from nowhere. This is why they're here.

"Yes, the elder woman and the young man. Minerva and Tristen, I believe." The snake lowers so she's eye level.

Draco moves forward subtly, "why are they down here?"

"What do I get in return?" 

"What do you want?"

"Freedom, do not make me go back into that infernal statues again."

"Done." 

Draco looks at Harry in horror, what possessed his soulmate to agree to that?

"They are smuggling a male into the castle. A male that looks like a snake and man, with red eyes and slit nose. I have been watching from Salazar eyes as they demolish the rubble from a block pathway." The snake hums, "the woman, Minerva, keeps muttering. About murder and old men with odd names, Dumbledore? Yes Dumbledore. She believes getting the snake man into Hogwarts will kill this Dumbledore. Tristen is weirder still, in Minerva's presence the snake man is 'my Lord' or something similar."

"When Minerva's not around?"

"Father."

 


	32. Chamber of Secrets Pt.3

"F..father...?"

"Hahaha great joke, your hilarious."

Draco stood in shock at the thought of the dark Lord and someone having a baby while Harry tried to turn it into a joke.

"What is a joke? Who is she?" The snake hissed curiously. She shifted so her coils were loosely surrounding the two boys.

"The dark Lord...has a...son?!" Draco cringed, the damned images his mind conjured against his will. "Oh...gross...ewwwww!" His face scrunched up in disgust and Harry would've teased him about it had he not been equally disgusted by the news.

"I only told you two he calls the man father."

"Exactly!"

"BUT that could mean anything." The snake frowned down at Harry for his outburst. "Maybe father figure."

"Can't be," Draco shook his head quickly, "the dark Lord would never allow someone to call him father."

"Tommy has daddy issues." Harry snickered, Draco side eyed him.

The snake rumbled in laughter, it had been so long since she'd spoken to someone and it was very entertaining.

It was cut short at the large crack that rip through the air. Alitheia grabbed the boys and slithered up the statue before resting in its mouth. Draco peaked his head over the side, Harry doing the same. The hieght was daunting and Harry wanted to vomit but they focused on the new figure rounding the corner. 

It was Tristen and this time the resemblance to the young Tom Riddle was more obvious but less pronounced. He must look like his mother.

"Minerva!" He stood where they'd been moments before. "Damned woman! Can she ever be on time?!"

They thanked Merlin for the annoying echo., at least they could hear.

"I am. Do you know what you need? Constant vigilance." She smirked happily as his face twisted.

"Do not quote that damned auror in my presence." His resemblance to Voldemort, not the teen he'd been before his first kill, was showing.

"Of course _my prince_." Minerva seemed to be mocking him now which was only enraging him. "What did you want to see me about anyhow?"

"Keep everyone away from the astronomy tower tonight."

Minerva rolled her eyes, "why should I?"

"You forget who you work for."

"I'm not a branded slave, the dark Lord and I have a deal, so if you want cooperation tell me." 

"Dumbledore is hunting one of his fake horcruxes. When he returns I shall kill him, originally the Malfoy brat was supposed to..." Draco stiffened, they wanted him to be a murderer. "...but with his untimely disappearance the burden falls to me."

Tristen sounded every bit the pompous git as Tom had been in Dumbledore memories. 

"With Dumbledore gone, Hogwarts is ours?" Minerva smiled and revealed very feline like fangs. No wonder she never smiled in class, only the thin lipped patronizing look that passed as a smile.

"Havent you been listening?!"

"Are you on your period or something?"

"What?! I'm male!"

"Dont be so over emotional about everything." Minerva shook her head with a smirk. Riling him was too much fun. "I'll keep everyone away from your stupid tower."

"Astronomy tower!"

Harry and Draco could see the similarities between Tristen and Voldemort. Both were easy to anger and lashed out, as demonstrated by the boy who destroyed a snake head.

He left quickly, grumbling the entire way.

"Wait...how could he apparate in?" Harry asked, it had only just occurred to him that apparation was warded against.

"Slytherin built this chamber as a hide out from the world, he made sure the ward's of Hogwarts did not apply. Including apparation." Alitheia smirked at their dumbfounded expressions, "there is a lot hidden here that time would want you to forget. Slytherin was a great potions master and mage especially for his time, but his methods weren't always agreeable. It's why he left. Rowena confronted him and Salazar knew he couldn't stay."

"But Gryffindor..."

"Was his lover. They were very romantically involved. It was a secret taken to the grave by the pair of course, they weren't ashamed of their relationship but Salazar didn't want to harm Godric with his reputation." She huffed. "All pipes lead to this chamber, I've heard many things over the years, including your corrupt history. Someone changed your history, so that Gryffindor and Slytherin would be enemies."

"But why? What's the point?"

"There are more muggleborns than purebloods, old lines dying off everyday due to inbreeding." She paused when Draco muttered "Fucking disgusting." And laughed lightly. It was very disgusting. "The prejudice created by changing the history so Slytherin were shown as muggleborn haters would transcend Hogwarts. The prejudice of both classes of blood flowed through the generation's, tainting minds. Slytherin doesn't care for class. Slytherin is about your ambition, your drive to achieve something. Salazar valued those who were cunning and ambitious. Not just purebloods.

"Doesnt answer my question though." Harry didn't mean to sound rude but it was hard.

"Muggleborns have larger numbers therefore influence, twist one generation and you may twist them all. Only two teachers have stayed within Hogwarts for generations."

"Mcgonagall and Dumbledore." Draco gasped.

"Exactly, the things I've heard through these pipes have disgusted me but I have been trapped inside this statue. You need to right the wrongs of warped history."

"The prejudices are so engrained though, that's why people joined the dark Lord in the first place." Harry grumbled

"Not entirely true." Draco frowned, "for Slytherin it's us against the world, one house against three. Sure Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw are alright but Gryffindor? Not so much. You know this obviously, but Lily and Severus didn't raise you with the prejudice of pureblood. We arrive at Hogwarts expecting attacks, we're eleven for merlins sake." 

"We can't changed history." Harry argued, he could remember all the prejudice and hateful things he'd seen or heard within Hogwarts.

"You are famous. You as one person. If anyone can, it's the boy who lived."


	33. The Astronomy Tower

Harry told Severus everything in one big rant, Lily sat stiffening with each word. Suddenly she jumped and mimed vomiting.

"The images! Oh Merlin!" She shook her head, "why?! How?!" She groaned dramatically.

Lily's mind, like Draco, created images to go with words, it had always been like that. But this was just disturbing, the fact someone would willingly have a child with Voldemort.

"Probably Bellatrix." Severus shrugged, she was infamous for her affairs, unfortunately Rudolphus was blindly in love with her and didn't accept the thought.

The others grimaced, but Tristen didn't look much like Bellatrix.

"The Astronomy tower is where we need to be tonight." Draco sighed, he hated heights. "I can't believe Mcgonagall is involved with this at all."

"And that 'deal' she has with Voldemort too." Harry chimed in, earning a tired smile from his soulmate.

"You two rest, we'll scout the tower for hiding spots now and wake you up after the feast." Lily shooed them away gently.

But the two didn't fall asleep for a while, thinking about how to destroy Nagini because they'd be one step closer to killing Voldemort.

 

That night they lay in the rafters, a perfect view of below. Sometime after midnight Dumbledore apparated in, exhausted but triumphant. He clutched the locket greedily, and began trying to pry it open. The latch came loose and out fell the letter Kreacher had once told them Regulus wrote.

"Did you really expect for that worthless trinket to be a horcrux?" Tristen stepped out the shadows, eyes alight and dancing with amusement. "I wonder what's it like to lose your sanity with age." 

"You'll find out soon enough, boy." Dumbledore might've been interrupted from a murderous rampage about being outsmarted, but he wouldn't loose his composure.

"I'm immortal, headmaster, I will never find out."

"Let me guess, more horcruxes."

"I wanted power and I'm not too weak to seek it." Tristen shrugged. "You'll die tonight, tragically, and the dark will win. The dark always wins."

"If the dark always win, why did I defeat grindelwald?"

"Anomalies." The child hissed a feeble excuse.

They could see Tristen's growing anger but also the tabby cat that watched from the stairs. 

"You don't have to do this."

If there's one thing separating Voldemort and his son, it was their temper. Sure Voldemort got angered easily but his son was a lot easier to provoke. Harry was already thinking of ways to use this to their advantage.

"Oh but I do old man, once I do this Voldemort will rule." Tristen smirked, like killing was everyday occurrence for him.

"Voldemort will never rule, not with people like Harry Potter here. Not as long as one person's remains fighting. Voldemort can't win if there's someone opposing him." 

"Minority, majority."

"He still won't have won, child, you still have a chance to join the right si..."

Tristen cast the killing curse whilst Dumbledore was speaking, not bothered with the typical hero speech about redemption and joining the right side.

He couldn't resist a quick rebuttal, "the thing is, I've always been on the right side, you lot were just too weak to seek it."

With that Tristen ran downstairs and the tabby cat followed. 

The four in the rafters jumped down and stared out to see students swarming Dumbledore's body, clearly having just found him.

They all shared looks but ran after Tristen.


	34. Swords And Snakes

Severus was stumped. The Dark Lord normally shared everything with him, so why was Tristen a secret and the same for his fellow professor. Unless Voldemort knew he was a spy. It was possible but yet Severus was still alive so that couldn't be right.

He figured that the Death Eaters would kill Dumbledore and run away. Thereby making a statement that Hogwarts wasn't impenetrable but also that the Lights leader was gone. Then simply vanish, creating fear.

Severus had never been so wrong, no this was suddenly an all out battle, kids as young as 11 inexplicably caught up in it. He turned to his soulmate who nodded in agreement.

Students first, Dark Lords later.

Harry and Draco mixed it up. Helping students along the way whilst tailing Tristen. It was annoying as the teen didn't seem to have a destination in mind, running all over the castle.

His intent became clear when he stopped to confront them in an empty corridor.

"The Chosen One and a traitor." He sneered forcefully expelling Dracos glamour before he could protest.

"Whos your mum Tristen?" Harry smirked, "who's blind enough to fuck Voldemort?"

" _crucio_!" Tristen yelled, anger sweeping across his face. The two boys dodged easily.

"You don't know do you?" Draco's eyes narrowed as he tried to read Tristen. "You don't even have a horcrux."

"Want to be my first?" Tristen sneers.

"Sorry the only person he gonna be a first for is me." 

Harry had snuck around Tristen and used a shield to knock him unconscious. He turned to Draco with a now-what expression, but the blonde shrugged. Killing someone was different to killing a horcrux. Even if they were really similar.

In the end he was bond and gagged in broom cupboard. No enchantment were used minus a locking charm, no need to draw attention with certain spells having been used on a broom cupboard.

The two of them shared a look, they needed to kill Voldemorts snake, which meant Voldemort had to arrive.

They groaned and used a seemingly dead death eater to summon him, then ran and hid. Neither really had a plan of action. They never really did.

In the distance, Neville was...wielding...a sword? The sight was too confusing for them right now. Instead they focused on the rapidly forming black cloud.

Voldemort

Everyone near dropped away, running in panic away from the madman. Except for Neville.

 

Neville hadn't gone on amazing adventures or had some cool life growing up. He was average, barely passing for a wizard at most times.

He'd grown with a hatred boiling under his skin.

For Voldemort and Bellatrix and everyone who'd taken his parents from him. Because he'd been left with his grandmother and uncle who were sometimes abusive if he didn't preform magic. Nobody dangles their nephew from a window by their ankles.

Seeing Voldemort, before he'd seen one of the other four who'd tortured his parents, Neville acted on instinct. The sword was his by right, his parentage traced all the way back to Gryffindor himself, through his mum, none of relatives could use it.

So he did the only thing that came to mind, he swung. 

Somehow cutting Naginis head off and Voldemorts body in half.

"What the fuck?"

"That was awesome dude!"

Draco and Harry spoke over each other, but then realised something. Harry was the last horcrux. The last one. He had to die so Voldemort could as well.

They shared a look, completely tuning Neville and the battle out.

"What if...you don't die? You can live, it's not like he can use you to come back right?" 

"That's not how it works."

"We can protect you."

"For my entire life, be followed and stopped from doing something. Draco...there isn't a certainty that there's peace...that he's gone, until I die." 

"I won't let you die."

"I'm sorry." Harry whispered, he kissed Draco one last time before mumbling stupefy.

"Umm this is great, I think? But what's going on?" Neville was blinking in confusion, "I wasn't really following along with that."

"Look after Draco, take him somewhere safe and when everything's done, take him to his parents." 

"Harry-what?"

"You'll do fine, Neville."

Harry ran off and then was hit with the fact he really only had two options. Die by death eater or miscast spell, or kill himself. The first was sort of more comforting than suicide.

It wasn't hard starting a battle with a death eater, there seemed to be only a few left. 

 

Lily whirled around and froze with the rest of the world. The war was over but at what cost.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the weird period where this wasn't updated. I don't honestly know what happened, it's been a blur.  
> Anyway, there are more chapters, I'm not sure how many, but this will have a happy ending, cause I'm like that.


	35. Kings Cross

Harry woke up and found himself on a white platform. He blinked rapidly trying to process the fact he seemed to be in Kings Cross but literally everything was white. Blindingly white.

He rubbed his eyes, groaning, and stood quickly to try to get his bearings.

"Harry Potter?" 

Harry whirled round and immediately felt for a wand. When he couldn't find it he just glared.

"I know things aren't the best between us." Tom Riddle grimaced, it was his sixteen year old self, in full Slytherin robes and next to him was Dumbledore.

"You tried to kill me."

"I apologise for the lapse in judgement."

Harry glared, "where are we?"

"We are dead, you have the choice though of going back." Dumbledore cursed, he was radiating anger, "you can return to the mortal realm whereas i...we cannot."

"What he means to say, is he's angry he's dead and that you can go back to being alive and actually have a life."

Dumbledore growled, he sat petulantly on the floor like a child. Harry rolled his eyes, almost grinning when Tom did the same.

"Why can't you to back?" He asked, more directed towards Tom than the old man.

"You killed all my horcruxes and my body, there's nothing for me to go back to." Tom smiled sadly. "As for him, once killed you can't go back, there's nothing for him to go back to."

"And me?"

"You weren't killed, my horcrux in you was, that's why you can return but we can't. The only reason you're here is because I asked Death if I could speak to you. This idiot decided to tag along."

Dumbledore cursed him again and Tom snapped, kicking the headmasters leg in frustration.

"If your going to curse me or yell at me for foiling your plans, save it, I really couldn't care less."

"No, I want to thank you." 

Harry stared, but so did Dumbledore who hadn't been expecting that. The man frowned up at the dark Lord, or the soon to be dark Lord.

"Killing myrtle was a mistake, I wasn't even intending to kill a student, merely petrify enough to get Hogwarts investigated. After she died, I used her to make my first horcrux, having heard about them before. I never truly did understand them and the consequences, I just wanted to live for longer so I could do more."

"Like start a war" Dumbledore muttered.

"No! I never wanted that, I wanted the Wizarding world to be safer. I wanted magical orphanages to be opened so that magical children didn't have to be abused by ignorant muggles. This war was a mistake and I regret it more than you'll know." Tom sighed.

Harry was curious now, "so why start one?"

"Horcruxes don't just split the soul, but magic and sanity as well. By the first one I was down half my soul and by the second my body only contained a quarter of it. By the seventh, well you saw that. I lost my mind and beliefs, thinking it would be the only way to achieve my goals and ended up doing the one thing I would never do in full health."

"Try to kill a child."

"Yes, I wanted to thank you for finally killing all of me, stopping the monster I'd become."

"Your welcome I guess, what happened to your soulmate?"

"I was born in the 1930s-ish, they died before I could ever meet them." Tom looked away, eyes glistening, "did you know that if your soulmate dies before you meet them, your vision turns monochrome. I was only able to see black and white."

Harry opened his mouth but didn't know what to do. Tom waved away whatever he was going to say, seeing his intentions.

"And you? Why did you accompany me here?" He kicked Dumbledore again for good measure.

"Because Harry has gone dark and needs to see the light, the greater good!"

Harry and Tom exchanged a look.

"You don't see the bigger picture and that is..."

"What? Me marrying someone I don't love and isn't my soulmate. Me spending all my money on things you want. Me going into a career that you want. Basically me being your puppet."

"No! Child when you say it like that its sounds bad but it's not. Think of the things we could accomplish together!"

"Well your dead so I won't." 

"I'll keep him out of trouble in the afterlife, Harry." Tom smiled, "I really am sorry for everything I've done."

"I...I forgive you." Harry realised that he did, because Tom did regret everything and looked so happy to be free and dead. 

Tom grinned looking like Christmas had come, Harry wondered if Tom had ever had a proper Christmas or birthday.

"My boy we can still fix this! Let's talk about what needs to be done and everything will be back to how it should be!" Dumbledore crowed.

Harry took several steps back while Tom grabbed Dumbledore before the man could go anywhere.

"How do I go back?" Harry asked, looking around.

"Catch a train." Tom shrugged and glanced behind Harry, suddenly there was a whistle piercing the air. "Our times up, it was nice talking to you."

"Wait! Who's Tristens mum?" Harry yelled.

"I'm not his dad, he deluded himself into thinking that."

"So who are?"

"The Lestranges."

 

Harry's eyes fluttered warily, not wanting to be once again blind. He scrunched up his face when he felt water droplets hit his cheeks, opening his eyes he expected rain but looked up into watery grey eyes instead.

"Idiot!"


	36. Idiot

Harry chuckled weakly, ignoring the fact his soulmates first words to him were "idiot"

"I'm in love with an idiot!" Draco sobbed, head buried in Harry's chest, though it was happy tears now.

"I love you too" Harry sat up, pulling Draco with him so he could cradle his soulmate.

"Touching as this may be." Severus rolled his eyes, "what the fuck is wrong with you?!"

Harry and Draco stared in shock at Severus for swearing, then Harry got hit over the head by Lily who had obviously been crying.

The two of them shared a look and laughed.

 

"Tom is sorry?"

"Unbelievable." 

Draco and Severus said at the same time. All of them were sitting on a half broken staircase, Harry excitedly going over the weird Kings Cross limbo scene with sane Tom and still a dick Dumbledore.

"Tristen's parents are the Lestranges?" Lily mused. "The poor child was either raised to believe he was Voldemorts son or refused to accept the Lestranges as his parents."

"He's upstairs, we knocked him out and left him in a broom cupboard." Draco shrugged, like this was a normal occurrence.

"Unbelievable." Severus muttered.

Lily grinned and got the two teens to lead the way. They pulled Tristen out the cupboard and laid him by a window, reviving him but not undoing the restraints.

"Your parents are the Lestranges." 

"My dad is Voldemort."

"Lestranges."

"Voldemort."

"Les...."

"Okay! That's nice and whatever, but how did you speak parseltongue?" Draco interrupted Harry and Tristen, bored of the squabbling that reminded him of a six year old.

"Its a language, I learnt it obviously." Tristen rolled his eyes patronisingly.

Harry mumbled something in parseltongue and smiled mockingly when Tristen glared.

"The ministry will want to arrest you."

"Dad will break me out."

"Voldemorts dead."

"He can be resurrected."

"He doesn't want to be nor can you."

"You just don't realise the extent of my power."

Lily pulled her son's away, closely followed by Severus. She realised that he'd never stop believing that Voldemort was his father, or that Voldemort was truly dead. He'd deluded himself into thinking the mass murderer was immortal. She directed some ministry officials to his location, hoping that he could get actual help from a mind healer, not knowing what a lifetime of delusions would do to him.

Next stop was Minerva, the transfiguration teacher needed to be stopped before she took over Hogwarts. Harry and Draco parted, saying that they needed to find some one else.

Severus glanced in surprise at his soulmate when she used septumsempra on the witch.

Everyone backed away as they saw green sparks fly from Lilys eyes, the ends of her hair smoking.

"Why? Why abandon the order and the light for Voldemort?" Her voice twisted in disgust.

"I've lived in the shadows of that man for years, he used me, used all of us to achieve his dirty ends. The amount of compulsions I found on the students and some staff, just to keep them loyal. He deserved to die and Voldemort promised he would. Once he did I could be free."

"You could've gone to the ministry or anyone for that matter."

"Oh please." The severity of the spell became apparent as blood pooled on marble floors, but Minerva stayed standing tall. "The amount of students who went into ministry jobs, compulsions embedded into their minds, no one would've believed and then he would've just paid off those fool's. Fudge is too concerned about gold to do anything against a man who has accumulated a number of different titles."

"Minerva, dumbledore wouldve died anyway, he's old."

"Not soon enough, I was just protecting the students Lily." Minerva whispered, she muttered a spell and turned to dust where she stood. A sudden breeze whipping up to carry away her remains.

Lily watched it go, along with the rest of Hogwarts, many of whose spells where disappearing. After all the original caster was dead.

 

"Where are they?!" Draco whipped around for the fifth time, trying to find his parents. "They can't have been arrested right?"

"Draco, I love you, but your blind." Harry grabbed Draco's head and turned his head slightly. Ignoring his Soulmates slight oh, he have Draco a little shove.

"Draco?!" Narcissa pushed years of purebloods mannerisms away for running for her son and hugging him as tightly as she could. Falling to the ground, she kneels holding Draco. Lucius dropping next to them.

"Where were you?"

"Long story."


	37. Epilogue

Rebuilding Hogwarts took a week, but they had a lot of help. Many Death Eaters who hadn't been in the fight or had been forced were given another chance on Harry's word, they all pitched in to repair the school.

It wasn't perfect and the war hadn't helped prejudice much.

Slytherin was targeted by the entire school until Harry chewed them out and Lily threatened expulsion from her new placement as Headmistress.

It helped only slightly, with muggleborns taking compulsory Wizarding Studies so that they learnt about the traditions of purebloods instead of trying to change the Wizarding world to mimick theirs. Purebloods had to take compulsory muggles studies so they could learn more about muggles, not just small things like lightbulbs, but history and cultures.

Defence against the Dark Arts became just Defense, because Lily knew that many of her new students were Dark Wizards and Witches, forcing them to learn only light magic was detrimental.

Hogwarts was changing for the better and hopefully the new generation leaving Hogwarts would be more open minded and accepting than the older.

Outside the castle Fudge was sacked and Kingsley was elected. The first thing he did was take away all of Dumbledore's titles after a series of newspaper released the full story of Albus Dumbledore, not a propaganda lie. 

Britain had to learn to be more open to outsiders and tried to expand magical allies outside of Europe and America. Several great African Nations agreed to help in exchange for knowledge with an exchange student program between Hogwarts and Uagadou. It took a bit longer for Japan to agree to any treaties. After that several countries tried for alliances and Britain seemed to flourish.

Severus and Lily got married in the Sahara and went to South Africa for their honeymoon.

Narcissa and Lucius took the news that their son's soulmate was a half blood very well and tried incredibly hard to be a good family. 

Draco did a potions apprenticeship and Harry did a healers apprenticeship, however Draco ended up teaching Wizard Studies and Harry ended up as the new defence teachers. They loved so they couldn't complain.

 

"Dray!" Harry ran down the corridor, ignoring giggling students to hug his boyfriend. He felt one arm snake around his waist and a hand pat his head.

"I saw you before class." Draco laughed, Harry did this every day without fail and was a never ending source of amusement for the students and staff alike. 

"That was like 10 hours ago." Harry pouted, he swayed and felt Draco's chest vibrate as he laughed.

"Can I ask you a question?" Draco whispered, the students had slowly filtered away to class and both teachers were going to be late for their classes.

"Okay?"

"Wanna get married?" 

"Is this your idea of a proposal?"

"Idiot."

"I mean I'm saying yes."

"Good, I might have got a ring." 

Draco pulled out a green and silver swirling glass ring with a matching one for himself. Harry may or may not have shrieked like a dying whale. Draco then got to listen to Harry yelling at him to put the ring on.

"Shit!" Draco snapped Harry out of his daze. "Class"

"See you later fiance." Harry kissed and ran off.

The class jumped when he practically broke down the door.

"Professor?"

"Sorry about that." Harry jogged to the front to prepare the class.

"Sir is that a ring?!" A boy shouted.

Harry turned to find every student leaning forward to catch a glimpse of the ring. He held up his hand and blushed heavily.

"Professor Malfoy finally asked!"

Within seconds every person in Hogwarts knew the news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end and I want to say thank you for every read, kudos and comment it means so much to me.  
> Thank you for sticking with this despite the sporadic updates and short chapters.


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